The mortgage loan industry requires the interfacing of various different parties including borrowers, banks, brokers, and third party service providers. Throughout the loan submission and approval process, a core set of data, the borrower's loan application data, is examined and manipulated by various different people, with each one performing a different task. The advent of on-line services, and especially web-based systems, has led to the development of sophisticated programs, referred to as Loan Origination Software (LOS) systems, which are used by loan brokers to automate the loan application process and fulfillment process.
In a traditional loan application scenario, a borrower approaches a loan broker to find an appropriate loan. The broker takes the application information from the borrower and compiles the customary loan application papers. The loan origination process typically involves many different processing steps that are very detailed and data-specific, including pre-qualifying the borrower, generating loan documents, finding a lender, originating the loan, generating disclosure documents and reports, processing the loan and tracking the loan application through the final stages of underwriting and fulfillment. Various different people within the loan brokerage can be involved in each loan application, such as the loan officer who finds the appropriate loan for the borrower, the loan processor who coordinates the construction and finalization of the loan documents, and the manager who oversees the brokerage business. Each of these parties closely interacts with each other over the course of a loan application process. Each one also interacts with various outside parties, such as banks, financial institutions, underwriters, government sponsored entities, and various third party service providers and settlement service vendors.
Although present LOS systems allow brokers to automate certain processes, such as producing and populating loan forms, and keeping track of an applicant's financial information, typical loan origination software systems do not provide a comprehensive interface between loan officers and the other parties involved in the loan origination process, such as the loan processor and brokerage manager. Most present LOS programs are focused and adapted to perform online form processing tasks, and are not optimized to facilitate connectivity among the parties involved. As such, they are not able to provide true integration and management over the entire loan application and fulfillment process.
In general, present LOS systems are ill suited to the current format of brokerage operations and do not satisfactorily address real user needs. Current LOS systems are largely considered to be basic form generators and not true collaboration tools for processors and loan officers working on same basic set of data. Because most present LOS systems were designed almost exclusively for loan processors, true functionality for loan officers and brokerage managers is typically lacking, thereby providing little or no internal company-collaboration capabilities. Most present LOS systems also provide minimal networking functionality, thus disadvantaging branch offices and remote users, and hampering communication with lenders and service providers. Security is also often an issue with borrower loan data residing in plain data files, and the need to rely on non-secure communication and transmission media, such as fax and e-mail.
What is needed, therefore, is a loan origination software system that provides comprehensive intercommunication among the parties involved in a mortgage loan application, with functional interfaces for each of these parties.
What is further needed is a loan processing system that provides a centralized company database with secure, accurate, and timely data, and automated loan application management.
What is yet further needed is a loan processing system that provides secure, seamless network connectivity with outside parties, such as lenders and settlement service providers.